


more than just survive

by gravitropism



Series: Grad Students!AU [12]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, Grad Students!AU, M/M, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-04
Updated: 2017-07-04
Packaged: 2018-11-23 09:13:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11399541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gravitropism/pseuds/gravitropism
Summary: All of the times people apologized to each other.





	more than just survive

**Author's Note:**

> Part of a series.
> 
> h i f r i e n d hope you enjoy. Title from Puppet's To Be Alive.

“I’m sorry!” Baekhyun whines. He’s only thirteen, how was he supposed to know Chanyeol was going to make a big deal over some week-old kimbap?

“It’s whatever,” Chanyeol sniffs, and stomps up the stairs. Baekhyun looks down at his disposable chopsticks, and grumbles. Maybe if he wanted to keep the food safe, he should have written his name on it. It was in Baekhyun’s fridge, anyway!

Baekhyun stands and tosses the chopsticks and the foam container, then slowly trudges up the stairs. Chanyeol is sitting in Baekhyun’s desk chair, with Baekhyun’s headphones on, playing a game on Baekhyun’s laptop. Which, in Baekhyun’s opinion, kind of lessens the effectiveness of storming off? But whatever.

He taps Chanyeol’s shoulder, and Chanyeol looks up, only to scowl at him. Baekhyun makes his best attempt at a friendly smile. “I really am sorry, dude.”

“It’s fine, Baekhyun,” Chanyeol replies, and goes back to the game. Baekhyun makes a face. Clearly Chanyeol is going through a dramatic phase, which means there is only one solution to this problem.

Baekhyun taps his shoulder again. “I’ll buy you ramen to make up for it? The good kind, because Mom gave me money yesterday.” He’ll be out of snack money for a couple weeks, but it’s worth it.

At this, Chanyeol removes the headphones. “I guess,” he says with a shrug, but Baekhyun can see the hint of a smile forming.

“Great! You wanna go now, or tomorrow after school?” he asks, plopping down on his bed. Chanyeol gets up, and throws himself on Baekhyun’s bed next to him.

“Tomorrow,” he says, “I’ll be hungrier after school. Plus, we have that test in Science, so we should celebrate.”

“Sounds like a deal,” Baekhyun says, and grins.

\--

“I’m sorry!”

“Literally you had one job,” Sehun says, and Jongin sighs from his positon, which happens to be kneeling in a full bow on the floor at Sehun’s feet. “And you failed.”

“I didn’t sleep well last night, okay?” Jongin whines. “I didn’t mean to, Professor Baron’s voice just has that effect on me!”

“Then maybe you should have gotten coffee,” Sehun grumbles. “Now what are we going to do?”

See, Sehun and Jongin have a deal. One of them goes to class, and takes notes, and every other day they switch off. Today was supposed to be Jongin’s day, except he fell asleep. Not on purpose! He tried really hard to stay awake! He even pinched himself!

“We could try getting notes off someone else?” Jongin suggests, forehead still in contact with the carpet of their dorm room. Which reminds him, they should really vacuum. He can see toenail clippings.

“I guess we could do that,” Sehun muses, propping his feet up on Jongin’s back. Jongin accepts his punishment dutifully. “Do you know anyone smart who takes good notes?”

“There’s a girl who sits in the front row? She’s in my discussion, and we talk sometimes,” Jongin says, shifting around to get more comfortable. Might as well get into child’s pose and do some yoga if he’s going to be here for a while.

“The one who rides the motor scooter around campus?” Sehun asks, now rubbing his heel against Jongin’s spine.

“Yeah, her,” Jongin grunts. This is getting a little uncomfortable. “She’s always writing something, so I think we could ask her.”

“You mean, you can ask her. Not we. You, because you were the one who fell asleep,” Sehun says.

Jongin rolls his eyes, glad that Sehun can’t see his face. “I said sorry!”

\--

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know!” Baekhyun howls, frantically looking around for street signs. “I swear the streets aren’t marked!”

“I told you to take a right at the next street!” Chanyeol yelps, his phone in his hand. “It doesn’t matter what the street is called, we have GPS!”

“It didn’t look like a street,” Baekhyun whines. He debates pulling over, but their rented truck is too big for that. “What do I do now?”

“Hang on, it’s re-routing,” Chanyeol says, “Alright, turn right here, and we should be able to get back on track fairly easily.”

Baekhyun complies tersely, glancing around at their unfamiliar surroundings. “Please tell me we’re almost there,” he says, drumming on the steering wheel. They only have the truck until 6 pm, and then they need to return it to the rental place. It’s about 1 pm now, which means they’re going to have to move quickly if they want to get everything into their new apartment in time.

“Yeah, I think we have about a mile left to go,” Chanyeol says, glancing at his phone. Baekhyun never knew moving would be so stressful, and their graduate school experience has just begun.

\--

“Oh, god, I’m sorry,” Kyungsoo says, setting the boxes down on the landing. “Are you alright?” The boxes, stacked two high, were taller than Kyungsoo’s level of eyesight, which is probably why he had bumped into Baekhyun as they were going in opposite directions on the stairs.

“I’m fine,” Baekhyun says with a grin. “I’m just glad you didn’t drop any of my stuff.”

Kyungsoo resists the temptation to glare at him. They had just met an hour ago, and already Baekhyun is giving him sass. He should be grateful that Kyungsoo is helping him move his stuff into his apartment. “Haha, yeah,” he says awkwardly. Did Kyungsoo mention that he’s a little uncomfortable around people he doesn’t know very well?

“Want me to grab one of those boxes? They look a little heavy,” Baekhyun says, and Kyungsoo nods.

“Sure, if you don’t mind.”

“And anyway, I think we should get to know each other a little better, right? Since we’re probably going to be working together a lot in the future,” Baekhyun continues, picking up a box. Kyungsoo follows suit, and they continue climbing the stairs together.

“Yeah, probably,” Kyungsoo says, not really wanting to contradict him so early into their relationship. Maybe Baekhyun isn’t just what he seems to be on the surface.

\--

“Kyungsoo I’m sorryyyy!” Jongdae whines, hanging off Kyungsoo’s arm. Kyungsoo is still ignoring him, though, so he hams it up. “I’m really sorry, I was busy and I forgot. I’ll do it right away, don’t worry!”

Kyungsoo glares at him (at least it’s some sort of reaction). “I do all the cooking, and all you have to do is the dishes. It’s not that hard to remember, Jongdae, you do it every day.”

“I was really tired! Like really tired! I’ll never forget again I’m so sorry please forgive me!”

Kyungsoo points to the sink, and Jongdae disengages and mopes over, slipping on his gloves and turning on the water.

“I’m sorry, I was studying in the library, and because I ate there, I didn’t think to do the dishes when I got home at midnight last night,” Jongdae says, picking up the first dish. “I didn’t even go into the kitchen, I swear. I was so tired.”

“Well, if that was the case, then I forgive you,” Kyungsoo says, his posture softening. “But you’re still doing them, and buying me food tonight.”

“I was going to do that anyway, but sure!” Jongdae says. He really isn’t thankful enough sometimes. Maybe he should have Kyungsoo teach him how to cook so they can share the responsibilities evenly. That would be smart. But also not burning down their apartment complex would be smart, so he’ll leave the cooking to Kyungsoo, and just do the dishes. He can only do so much damage with water, right?

\--

“I’m sorry for whatever I did!” Baekhyun blurts out, unable to take the pressure any longer. “Although, what did I do?”

Kyungsoo’s glare only seems to intensify. “I was trying to study last night, could you and Chanyeol maybe keep the volume level down? You remember that our apartments share a wall, correct?”

Baekhyun winces. Kyungsoo isn’t going to let this one go easily. “I’m sorry! We just got really involved in our game.”

“Clearly.”

“Next time just come over and tell us to shut up, you know we will,” Baekhyun says earnestly. He really doesn’t want Kyungsoo to stay mad at him for long; that would mean no food. And Baekhyun really needs Kyungsoo’s food.

Kyungsoo scowls. “How about there is no next time?”

“I... don’t think... Have you met Chanyeol and I?” Baekhyun says slowly. “We’re not exactly quiet people when we’re together.”

Kyungsoo’s expression softens somewhat. “You have a point,” he concedes, shifting in his seat. “But still, you could stand to be a little quieter. Just, please no screaming?”

Baekhyun grins sheepishly. “Chanyeol was tickling my neck? I told him to stop, but he didn’t, and it’s really ticklish, so...”

Kyungsoo narrows his eyes. “Well, just make sure he doesn’t do it again,” he says with finality, and pulls out his laptop. “What do you want for lunch tomorrow?”

Baekhyun internally thanks whatever god who listened to his prayers. “Um, I’ve had cravings for Caribbean food for a while now.”

“Fine with me.”

\--

“Sorry?” Chanyeol says with a wince. He didn’t mean to run their shopping cart into Kyungsoo’s ankles, but he got distracted by some tasty-looking snacks.

Kyungsoo spins around, glare already in place. “Are you kidding me? Pay attention, dumbass,” he says, and throws a block of cheese into the cart. “Jongdae, put that down.”

“But it looks so good,” Jongdae whines, gazing longingly at the tube of ready-to-bake cinnamon rolls. Chanyeol can feel the drool forming in his mouth already. It does indeed look good, and he can imagine how wonderful the cinnamon rolls would smell...

“Ooh, does it have the jizz to go on top, too?” Baekhyun says, bumbling over, eyes bright.

Kyungsoo splutters. “What the fuck--?”

“He means the icing,” Chanyeol realizes. “The white stuff? We were watching Louie C.K. once; he called it hot cum, and Baekhyun took it too far.”

Jongdae looks upset. “Why would you ruin my favorite food like that?” he says.

Baekhyun lifts an eyebrow. “Don’t pretend you don’t like hot cum, Jongdae.”

“I can’t believe we’re having this conversation,” Kyungsoo mutters, rubbing his eyes. 

Chanyeol pats his back consolingly. “I can’t believe you expected anything else from four young gay men and a grocery store,” he says cheerfully.

\--

“I’m sorry!” Baekhyun screams, as Kyungsoo beats him within an inch of his life with a pillow.

“I—gave—you—specific—containers,” Kyungsoo grunts, punctuating his words with pillow smacks, “of food to eat,” he stops, breathing heavily. Baekhyun rubs his shoulder and winces. Kyungsoo can really pack a punch when he wants to. “Why couldn’t you just eat those?”

“I didn’t know that was yours,” Baekhyun says, bracing himself for another round of beating.

“This isn’t the first time Baekhyun’s eaten food that wasn’t his,” Chanyeol calls out, making his way from his room to the kitchen. Bastard.

“Let it go, Park! We were thirteen!” Baekhyun shouts back.

“Some things never change,” Kyungsoo says, shaking his head, and Baekhyun holds his hands over his head as the pillow rains down once again.

\--

“Oh, god, I’m so sorry,” Kyungsoo says. At least his papers had made it into the elevator.

He had been jogging to catch the elevator, not realizing that someone had been standing at the entrance. And now, of course, Kyungsoo has to wait out the ride with said person.

“It’s fine,” the guy says, and waves a hand. He even bends down to help Kyungsoo pick up his papers; what a gentleman. Kyungsoo is touched. “I’m Minho, Sociology. You?”

“Kyungsoo, History.”

Minho nods. “Neat, what kind?”

Kyungsoo can feel his cheeks turning a little red. Minho is very attractive. “Um, I work on the native tribes of Central America.”

“Wow, so, like, the Inca, and the Maya, and Aztec? Stuff like that?”

“Yeah, something like that,” Kyungsoo says, shuffling the now-collected papers in his hands. “More of the smaller ones, but I do look at them, as well.” The elevator stops at the eighth floor, and they both get out, Minho gesturing for Kyungsoo to go ahead of him. “Right, Sociology is on eight as well,” he says, rubbing the back of his neck. “Maybe I’ll run into you more often, then.”

“Probably,” Minho laughs, and waves. “See you, Kyungsoo,” he adds, and walks off down the opposite hallway. Kyungsoo sighs. He has a bad feeling about this already.

\--

“Oh gosh, I’m so sorry,” Junmyeon says hurriedly, offering a hand to the guy he just knocked down. “I didn’t see you there, at all!”

The guy takes his hand, and pulls himself up, dusting off the seat of his pants. “I hope you’re not trying to make a short joke—nope, wait, you’re just as short as me. Never mind,” he says, grinning. “I’m Jongdae. Are you in this group?”

Junmyeon nods. “I’m Junmyeon, and yes, they assigned me here. Any idea what we’re supposed to be doing?” They’re supposed to be volunteering at the community garden, but Junmyeon doesn’t exactly have green thumb.

“Basically we just dig holes, plop the plants in, and pat the soil back around,” Jongdae says, pointing to the bucket of shovels. “Another group will come around and water them; we don’t have to worry about that.”

“Sounds easy enough,” Junmyeon says, plucking at his t-shirt. It’s still morning, but he’s already starting to get a little sweaty. He can already tell that today is going to be hot. His hair is damp, too, and he pushes it off his forehead with a grimace.

Jongdae snaps his fingers. “Want a bandana? I’ve got a spare, you can tie it and it’ll keep the hair out of your face,” he says, reaching into his back pocket. He pulls out two bright red bandanas, and passes one to Junmyeon without waiting for his response. Junmyeon wonders where he managed to get them, but decides to leave that question for another time.

With Jongdae’s help, his hair is out of his face, and he’s already feeling a little cooler. Minus his cheeks, because he’s blushing, due to how adorable Jongdae looks in his bandana. Junmyeon really hopes he’s gay.

\--

“Sorry? I don’t think we’ve ever been introduced,” Minseok says slowly, taking in bright red hair and tattoos covering broad shoulders (visible thanks to the tank top the guy is wearing). Not the look you’d expect for your average physics grad student, but not totally out of the ordinary.

“That’s okay,” the guy says a little sadly. “I didn’t really expect you to know me, anyway. You’re kind of popular among the first and second year students, but it’s only natural that you wouldn’t know us.”

Minseok blinks. Popular is the last word he’d use to describe himself. He’s a physics grad student, what can he expect? “Am I really?”

The guy nods. “Yeah, they call you the hot one,” he says, completely void of shame. “I’m Chanyeol, by the way.”

“Oh,” Minseok says helplessly.

Chanyeol blinks. “Also I’m not trying to flirt with you. That’s just what they say. I’m not kidding! You can ask them!”

Minseok shakes his head, waving a hand. “No, I believe you. I’m just a little surprised, is all.”

Chanyeol sniffs, and Minseok resists the urge to laugh. “Have you seen yourself in the mirror lately? You’ve got some serious biceps there.”

“Thanks, I guess,” Minseok says, letting a giggle escape. Chanyeol is a little weird, but he seems nice.

“Yeah. How’s Doctor Lee? I met him, and obviously I talked to him during my interview, and I’ve read his stuff, but that doesn’t really give you a very good idea of someone’s personality, you know?”

Minseok leans up against the lab bench and crosses his arms. “He’s a little absentminded, which I know is a stereotype,” he starts, grinning.

“Yeah, I got that from the interview,” Chanyeol snorts.

“You have to really work to get him to buy stuff for the lab. If it’s possible to fix, you’re going to have to. I do like the feedback he gives, though. When you turn in a report, he gives a lot of feedback.”

“Oh, that’s nice. Yeah some guy I talked to last year told me that about him, I’m glad you agree,” Chanyeol says, mimicking Minseok’s position.

Minseok nods. “I definitely like it; he’s better than some other people I’ve worked with. Oh, do you want a tour around the lab?” he asks, gesturing around him.

Chanyeol beams. “I’d love that.”

\--

“Oh my god I’m so sorry!” Chanyeol nearly shouts. The guy he just knocked over blinks from his spot on the floor.

“It’s fine,” the dude grumbles quietly, picking himself up. Chanyeol offers him a hand, which he accepts. His palms are very warm.

The guy’s papers are strewn all over the floor, and Chanyeol runs a hand through his hair. “Sorry, anyway,” he says, and squats to brush the papers into a pile. He taps them on the floor to neaten the pile, and straightens again, handing the sheaf of paper over. “I’ve never seen you here before, are you new?”

The guy nods. “Yeah, I’m a first year in Biology. Still doing rotations, so I don’t have a permanent lab yet.”

“Gotcha,” Chanyeol says, shuffling around. If this guy is going to be working in the same building as him, he has to make sure that he isn’t hated for the rest of eternity. “Hey, listen, can I buy you coffee to make up for knocking you over?”

The guy’s eyebrows lift a little. Chanyeol winces; he hopes he isn’t coming off as weird. “Um. No, you don’t have to do that.”

“But I want to,” Chanyeol says firmly. “Please? I don’t want you to hate me forever.”

“I’m not going to hate you forever?”

“Please? We could end up being friends or something, you know?” Chanyeol nearly begs.

“I guess,” the guy finally agrees. “Um. I’m Jongin, by the way.”

“I’m Chanyeol!” He beams. “Are you busy right now, or should we meet up later?”

“...you know what, now is good, actually,” Jongin says, and Chanyeol drags him away to his favorite coffee shop, talking all the while.

\--

“I am sorry, though,” Junmyeon says, as they’re lying cuddled up on Jongdae’s bed, late at night. “I feel like I kind of... dismissed your feelings by not paying enough attention to you.”

Jongdae sits up in bed, and Junmyeon’s eyes follow him. He can see Jongdae’s profile highlighted in pale blue light coming from the single window in the room. “You need to stop apologizing to me. You didn’t do anything.”

“I think it’s more of what I didn’t do, though,” Junmyeon says, rubbing his thumb over Jongdae’s exposed knee. “I shouldn’t have ignored you.”

“You’re impossible,” Jongdae mutters. He turns his body and crosses his legs. “You didn’t actively ignore me, and you were busy. It’s fine. I don’t mind.”

Junmyeon sighs. How can he get Jongdae to understand his point of view? “It’s not fair to you, though. I feel like you had an expectation that eventually I would do something else.”

Jongdae makes a frustrated noise.

\--

“I’m sorry if you ever thought I had expectations of you,” Jongdae says, ruffling his hair. It’s a mess, but that isn’t important right now. “I just wanted you to go at your own pace.”

Junmyeon sits up in bed, and their eyes meet. Junmyeon’s back is to the window, so his face is mostly in shadow. “You really didn’t want me to do anything in particular? I thought you were frustrated with me for not saying anything to you about our relationship.”

That’s not what Jongdae was trying to convey, at all. He slips an arm around Junmyeon’s waist, and sighs. “No. I was frustrated that you weren’t taking care of yourself, and I admit that I was a little confused as to whether you liked me or not, but I wasn’t angry at you for not immediately declaring your love.”

Junmyeon snorts. “I don’t think I’m really one to go around declaring love, but I think I see what you’re trying to say, now.”

Jongdae nods. “Thank you. So if you’re going to apologize for anything, apologize to yourself for being too harsh and pushing yourself too far.”

Junmyeon’s expression is difficult to read sometimes, Jongdae notes. This is one of those times. But then Junmyeon leans in to kiss him, and his lips are soft against Jongdae’s own. “Thank you for caring about me,” Junmyeon whispers, breaking the kiss momentarily, and then Jongdae makes a decision to wrap his arms around Junmyeon’s shoulders and pull him down.

As Junmyeon’s mouth travels down his neck, Jongdae stares up at his moonlit ceiling and smiles.

\--

“Whoops! Sorry there, Sehun!” Yixing says, smiling. “Didn’t see you.” His absentmindedness doesn’t mix well with the many twists and turns in the halls of the science building.

Sehun rolls his eyes. He’s such a sassy little kid, Yixing thinks fondly. He’ll grow up well. “I’m honestly not even surprised,” he says. “Where are you going?”

“Mailboxes,” Yixing replies, holding up a stack of paper. “I need to drop these off, and the professor they belong to is out.”

“Gotcha,” Sehun mutters. “Oh, are you going to join us for Drag Race? We’re doing another viewing this Friday night; Jongdae is still complaining about how uneducated we are.”

Yixing pauses for a moment to think. Does he have anything going on? Not really. “As long as we don’t get drunk this time,” he says, chuckling. “I don’t think I can take another one of those hangovers.”

Sehun laughs. “I don’t think we will. Or, if we do drink, it’ll only be a little. We’re all kind of busy right now,” he admits, waving around his own stack of papers. “And we have that exam to grade tomorrow.”

Dammit. “I totally forgot about that,” Yixing says. He sighs. “I know we just proctored for it, but I kind of just put it out of my mind.”

“Yeah, you’re not getting out of it,” Sehun says, giving him a side-eye. Yixing flaps a hand at him.

“I wasn’t trying to,” he says, “I just don’t want to.”

“Good, otherwise Jongin and I would probably eviscerate you.”

\--

“Yeah, I’m sorry,” Kyungsoo says, and Minseok waits. “About that, and about kissing him, too. Really sorry.” This is an interesting situation that Minseok has gotten himself into. It’s not every day that your boyfriend kisses one of his best friends, then immediately calls you to tell you and apologize.

“Do you know why you did it?” Minseok asks. He tries his best to keep his tone neutral, because while he wants to get angry, Kyungsoo deserves a chance to really explain himself.

“Um. I don’t know, we were really drunk, and he was doing the groping thing, and then it just happened. It’s not like I have feelings for him, or anything, he was just there, and I’ve always thought that he’s attractive,” comes Kyungsoo’s voice.

Interesting. Minseok hums. “Really? I thought you were annoyed by him.” It seems like any time Kyungsoo is in the same room as Baekhyun, there’s some half-assed catfight going on. Perhaps it was more half-assed than he originally thought.

“Personality wise? Of course. But you can’t deny that he’s hot, come on.”

Minseok resists the urge to laugh, but the situation sobers him. “Not that it justifies anything, but yes, he’s hot. Still.”

He glances at the small clock that sits on his bathroom counter. It’s getting late, if he wants to be ready in time he should probably start brushing his teeth now. Placing his phone on the counter, he puts it on speaker so he can still talk to Kyungsoo. Now is not the time to hang up.

Kyungsoo’s voice comes across slightly muffled. “I know, I fucked up. It won’t go any further.”

Minseok turns the water on to rinse out his mouth. “I do trust you, when you say that. But I don’t think we can have the rest of this conversation over the phone. Do you want to meet up for coffee?” Minseok asks, pausing to spit. “I have some time before I need to go in, so if you can meet me at the usual place in about twenty minutes, we can actually talk. I’m not mad at you, by the way.”

“You’re not?”

“Not really. I mean, from what I can tell, you didn’t do it maliciously, so I’m not mad. Just a little upset,” Minseok says, and shuts the water off. He wants to be angry, but he knows that going into some sort of rage wouldn’t really get him anywhere. Besides, it’s only kissing. It could be something much worse.

“And you’re perfectly entitled to be upset,” Kyungsoo says quietly, “I did a not good thing, and my apology does not mean you have to be okay with it.”

“Which is why I want to talk to you in person,” Minseok laughs. Kyungsoo really is adorable, sometimes. “Hang up, and get your ass to the Pourhouse in less than twenty minutes.” The Pourhouse is a neutral ground where they both feel comfortable, and Minseok definitely needs comfort right now.

“Alright. Um. I’m sorry. See you?”

“See you.” Minseok hangs up, and stares at his phone screen. Kyungsoo will never cease to surprise him.

\--

“I’m not apologizing,” Baekhyun says with a smirk. “That was amazing.”

Jongin buries his face in Baekhyun’s stomach. “I honestly didn’t expect you to. You’re definitely not the kind of person to apologizing for kissing someone.”

Baekhyun feels triumphant. “Especially if it results in the related parties having some great sex.”

“You really need to stop being so smug about it.”

“I think you need to take my perspective on this.”

Jongin rolls over, eyebrows lifted. “And what’s that?”

“We got laid, stop complaining,” Baekhyun says with his best shit-eating grin.

\--

“I’m sorry!”

“This isn’t easy to wash out, goddammit, Park!”

Chanyeol whines. “I didn’t mean to!”

Sehun glares up at him. “Oh, right, you didn’t mean to get your jizz in my hair. Because saying that makes it better. Nice.”

“Well I definitely didn’t do it on purpose!” Chanyeol says. His dick is still out, and he tucks it back into his boxers because he’s feeling a little ridiculous.

Sitting back on his heels, Sehun’s glare never wavers. “How old are you now? Twenty-four, almost twenty-five? Could you maybe learn to aim your dick somewhere that isn’t my hair or eyes?”

“Like you could do any better in the heat of the moment?” Chanyeol says, crossing his arms. “It’ll wash out, alright?”

“Yeah, but it’s difficult to wash out! Especially if you can’t tell if it’s all gone yet, and you dry your hair only to find flaky white bits.” Sehun speaks like he has experience in the matter, and Chanyeol resists the urge to laugh. That wouldn’t really help his cause.

“I’ll help you get it out,” he says, standing, “We’ll use cold water. You can just bend your head over the tub, I’ll get it out, and then we can take a shower together. And I’ll give you a handjob.”

Sehun’s posture seems to soften, but he narrows his eyes. “It better be a damn good handjob.”

\--

“Sorry,” Minseok says. He’s trying so very hard to keep a straight face. And he’s failing. And he’s sorry for that.

Jongdae narrows his eyes. “It’s getting to the point where I think you’re doing this on purpose,” he says, and that’s it, Minseok can’t hold it in anymore. He bursts out laughing, and Jongdae flips him off.

“I can’t help it if we have loud sex,” Minseok manages to get out between waves of laughter. He shrugs. “You’re free to retaliate, if you want. I’m not stopping you.”

“Literally no. I’m not going to start some weird game where we compete to see who can have louder sex. How are you older than me. This makes no sense,” Jongdae complains, throwing his hands in the air.

Minseok shakes his head. “It’s the fact that you get so worked up about it,” he says. “If you would just let it go, I would definitely stop.”

Jongdae narrows his eyes. “Somehow I have a hard time believing that.”

“What are you guys talking about?” Kyungsoo asks, walking into the kitchen carrying a carton of eggs. “Minseok, are you bothering Jongdae?”

“He’s definitely bothering me,” Jongdae says loudly. “Make him stop.”

Minseok snickers. “Want to tell him what I’m doing to bother you, Jongdae?”

“...You know what? I’ll pass. Need help with those eggs, Kyungsoo?”

Kyungsoo blinks. “I’m so confused?”

Once again, Minseok fails to hold in his laughter.

\--

“Oh, sorry, Kyungsoo,” Minho says as he nearly runs into him in the elevator. “I didn’t see you there.”

Kyungsoo’s smile looks a little uncertain. The guy standing next to him, who Minho recognizes as Minseok from that party way back, lifts his eyebrows.

“It’s fine,” Kyungsoo says. “Um. How are you?”

Minho smiles back, regardless of the situation. “I’m good. It’s been a while since we’ve seen each other, hasn’t it?” Minho suspects that Kyungsoo may have been avoiding him, which is strange, because he didn’t think their date had gone quite that badly. But he decides to let it go.

“Yeah, well. I’ve been busy?” Kyungsoo replies, shifting, and Minseok’s hand goes around his waist.

“Kyungsoo’s professor gives him a lot of work,” Minseok says, and something about his tone makes Minho feel a little... intimidated. “Plus, he started dating me, so.”

Ouch. “That’s great! I’m happy for you,” Minho says. It’s not like he doesn’t have his own romantic interests, but it still stings a little to have it rubbed in your face.

“Oh, yeah,” Kyungsoo says, gesturing at Minseok. “You remember Minseok from the party, right? We’ve been together for a couple months now.” Which puts their anniversary right around when Kyungsoo and Minho had their date. That would explain why Minseok seems so protective, Minho realizes.

“Yes, of course. I wasn’t drunk or anything, so I do remember. Nice to see you again, Minseok.” Minho puts on a winning smile, because honestly, nobody can hate his smile.

“Same,” Minseok says, and the elevator dings. “Well, maybe we’ll see you sometime.” He ushers Kyungsoo out, leaving Minho to follow.

“Bye,” Minho says, uselessly. Talk about a strange encounter.

\--

“Oh geez, sorry. Need any help with that?” Jongdae says, moving so he’s out of Kyungsoo’s way. Which is a good idea, because Kyungsoo is carrying three bowls of something edible that Jongdae would really like to eat.

“Take this one,” Kyungsoo says, wiggling the bowl to indicate. Jongdae complies, and follows Kyungsoo from the kitchen into the living room of Baekhyun and Chanyeol’s apartment. It’s New Years’, and they’re having a party with the usual squad.

“Food!” Chanyeol cheers upon seeing them. “Thanks, Kyungsoo. You’re the best.”

“No problem,” Kyungsoo replies. “I wasn’t the only one cooking this time, though. Minseok and Junmyeon helped me.”

Jongdae sets his bowl of what is probably chicken down on the coffee table, and turns to Junmyeon. “When did you help?” he asks.

“Remember how you had to stay late a few days ago?” Junmyeon says, patting the spot next to him. “I got to your apartment early, and Minseok and Kyungsoo were cooking. I wasn’t just going to sit there.”

“He’s not bad at cutting vegetables,” Minseok adds in. “Show up more often and we’ll feed you.”

Junmyeon laughs. He’s gotten much more comfortable with the group, Jongdae has noticed. It’s definitely not a bad thing. “I’ll try and do that. The food you guys make is really good.”

“Beats ramyeon, huh?” Jongdae chuckles.

“I get busy, okay?” Junmyeon blushes.

Meanwhile, Chanyeol is digging into the chicken. “We’ve still got two hours until midnight, so what should we do until then?”

Sehun’s head pops up from behind the couch. “Drinking game?”

“Not again,” Yixing moans, and Jongdae lets out a peal of laughter.

**Author's Note:**

> t h a n k s f o r r e a d i n g m 8 only one more to go before this series is finished. get ready cuz it's gonna be hella cute.
> 
> also, if you haven't seen the Louie CK bit i'm referring to, you can watch it right [here.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zyK5t8QmyE) warning for language lol.


End file.
